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GCSE Psychology AQA > Memory > Flashcards

Memory Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 3 types of LTM

A

-Episodic
-Semantic
-Procedural

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2
Q

Types of LTM

Describe episodic memory

A
  • Episodic memory is the memory of event or personal experiences you’ve had such as your first day of school
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3
Q

Types of LTM

Describe Semantic memory

A
  • Semantic memory is our memory of facts and meaning in the world for example what the word elephant means
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4
Q

Types of LTM

Describe Procedural memory

A
  • Procedural memory is the memory of actions or skills; how we do things, examples are how to ride a bike or how to swim
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5
Q

2 strengths

2 Evaluation Points about the different types of memory

A
  • Another strength of different types of long-term memories is that they are supported by case studies of amnesiacs. For example, Clive Wearing lost most of his episodic memory but not his procedural memory as he could still play the piano. This shows there are different kinds of LTM.
  • A strength of the idea of different types of long-term memories is that brain scans show that different types of LTM relate to different brain locations. For example, episodic memory is found in the right prefrontal cortex whereas semantic memory is associated with the left prefrontal cortex. This supports the idea that that there are different types of LTM.

brain scans to support, clive wearing

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6
Q

Study of Encoding

Aim of Baddeley’s study

A

His aim was to see how info was encoded into the STM and LTM

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7
Q

Study of Encoding

Method of Baddeley’s study

A
  • Group A —> similar sounding words,
  • Group B —> dissimilar sounding words
  • Group C —> words with similar meanings,
  • Group D —> words with dissimilar meanings
  • Groups A and B were asked to recall their words immediately (testing STM) whilst Groups C and D were asked to recall their words after 20 minutes (testing LTM)
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8
Q

Study of Encoding

Results of Baddeley’s study

A
  • When the participants had to recall immediately (STM recall) they tended to do worse with the acoustically similar words
  • When the participants recalled after 20 minutes (LTM recall), they tended to perform worse with semantically similar words
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9
Q

Study of Encoding

Conclusions of Baddeley’s study

A

This suggests that information in the STM is encoded acoustically and the information in the LTM is encoded sematically

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10
Q

Study of Encoding

AO3 of Baddeley’s study

2 weaknesses

A
  • We cannot say for sure that other people would have acted in the same way during this study. Baddeley used students and therefore we cannot generalise the findings to the rest of the population – especially people who aren’t students. this is a disadvantage because we are not able to apply the findings to real life.
  • Another weakness is the experiment took place in a lab setting; unnatural for participants. Being in a different environment might have made them feel nervous or under pressure; could have lead to inaccurate results. We can say this study lacks ecological validity and it is therefore a disadvantage as the results might be inaccurate.

used students, can’t generalise. lab setting, results may be innacurate

used students, lab setting

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11
Q

What are the 3 types of encoding; explain them

A

-Visual (encoded based on how it looks)
-Acoustic (encoded based on how it sounds)
-Semantic (encoded based on its meaning)

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12
Q

What is encoding

A

Encoding means information that is input in the brain must be changed into a form where the brain can hold it

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13
Q

What is storage

A

Storage is where the brain holds the information that was encoded

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14
Q

What is retrieval

A

Retrieval is when the brain finds the piece of information and brings it back from the brain so that it can be used

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15
Q

What are the different ways of retrieval

A
  • Cued Recall (info is recalled when given a cue; given a hint)
  • Recognition (for example, you are given multiple choice questions, you decide the right answer out of those few answers)
  • Free Recall (you recall information without any cues)
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16
Q

What are the 3 main components of the Multistore Model of Memory

A
  • The sensory store
  • The STM store
  • The LTM store
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17
Q

AO1 of the Multistore Model of Memory

A
  • Information flows through the sensory, short term memory and long term memory stores
  • Information is transferred from the sensory store to the STM store if we pay attention to it
  • Information is transferred from the STM store to the LTM store if it’s rehearsed
  • In the sensory store, capacity is very high and duration is less than half a second unless paid attention to
  • In the short term store, info is coded acoustically, capacity is about 7 items and has a duration of less than 30 seconds unless rehearsed
  • In the long term store, info is coded semantically, capacity is unlimited and duration is up to a lifetime
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18
Q

2 weaknesses

AO3 of the Multistore Model of Memory

A
  • The multi-store model of memory does not explain how you can remember some information even though you have not rehearsed it and also struggles to explain why we can forget information that we have practised and rehearsed.
  • The multi-store model has been criticised for being oversimplified. For example, it states we have one single long-term memory store. However, other research evidence has shown that there are several
    types of long-term memory; procedural, episodic and semantic.

don’t explain how u can remember info, critised; several types of LTM

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19
Q

What was the aim of Murdocks Serial Position Curve Study

A

Murdock wanted to see whether the position of a word in a list affected people’s ability to recall it

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20
Q

What was the method of Murdocks Serial Position Curve Study

A

Participants heard a list of words, the word list had betweem 10 to 40 words on them. They were then asked to recall as many as possible

21
Q

What was the results of Murdocks Serial Position Curve Study

A
  • Participants recalled more words from the start of the list (primacy effect) and the end of the list (recency effect) than those in the middle of the list.
  • Murdock found words at the end of list were recalled better because they were still in the STM
  • The words at beginning of the list also recalled better because they were rehearsed initally and transferred to the LTM
  • The words in the middle weren’t really recalled well because they were in neither STM or LTM.
22
Q

What were the conclusions of Murdocks Serial Position Curve Study

A

The results concluded a serial position effect - the position of a word determines the likelihoodof its recall. This provides evidence for the existance of STM and LTM stores

23
Q

one strength, one weakness

AO3 of Murdocks Serial Position Curve Study

A
  • This was a laboratory based study so people are using their memory under highly controlled conditions, this is useful for the researcher whos eliminated the extraneous variables so they can be sure the IV has an effect on the DV
  • Participants were asked to listen to word lists. This was an artificial task because people do not normally have to do this. This means the results may lack validity because they may not predict how serial position affects memory recall in everyday memory

ba based study, however ppts were asked to listen to words, artificial

24
Q

What was the aim of Bartletts Reconstructive Memory study?

A

His aim was to investigate how memories are reconstructed when people are asked to recall a story they have been told

25
Q

What was the method of Bartletts War of the Ghosts study?

A
  • Barlett used 20 people from a university in the UK. None of the participants knew the purpose of the study
  • He told them a story (The War of the Ghosts) and asked them to recall it 15 minutes later to another participant. This repeated again, almost like a game of chinese whispers.
26
Q

What was the results of Bartletts War of the Ghosts study?

A
  • Participants remembered fragments of the story and retold it with small changes, based on their social and cultural expectations, changing the facts to make them fit.
  • He found that;
    -The story was shortened, the phrases used were changed to language and concepts from the participants own culture; instead of using ‘canoe’ they’d replace it with ‘boat’
27
Q

What was the conclusions of Bartletts War of the Ghosts study?

A

People remember fragments of memories and reconstruct the memory based on what they expect to happen, based on their social expectations and to make it make sense

28
Q

one strength, one weakness

AO3 of Bartletts War of the Ghosts study

A
  • Bartlett’s method in which he asked participants to retell a story is a more meaningful way of testing memory than asking participants to learn word lists. This is because retelling stories is something we do in everyday life. This increases the validity of his findings.
  • The sample was limited to students of English at Cambridge University so it may not be appropriate to generalise the findings to a wider group of people.

retelling story is more meaningful, students can’t be generalised

29
Q

What is reconstructive memory?

A

The idea that we only store some parts of memories and we fill in the gaps with our expectations when it comes to telling it so it makes sense.

30
Q

AO1 of Bartletts Reconstructive Memory Theory

A
  • The theory suggests that memory is an active process. People don’t just record everything that happens.
  • The reconstructive theory suggests that people store fragments of information and build these fragments into a meaningful whole when they need to recall something.
  • This means that memories may not be an accurate representation of what has happened because elements may be missing.
  • We can alter our memories so that they fit in with our social and cultural expectations/schemas. The way we store and recall information can be influenced by stereotypes
31
Q

AO3 of Bartletts Reconstructive Memory Theory

A
  • There is research evidence to support the idea that people add effort after meaning when recalling events. For example, in Bartlett’s ‘War of the ghosts’ study, participants changed parts of the story when they retold it, showing that memories are reconstructed.
  • The theory can be applied to everyday situations. It helps us understand why two different people, such as eyewitnesses, can give very different versions of the same events. Both have reconstructed the events in different ways

evidence to support EAM, can be applied to everyday situatns, eyewitness

32
Q

What are the 3 factors affecting accuracy of memory

A
  • Interference
  • Context
  • False memories

FIC

33
Q

What is interference

A

Interference is when two lots of information become confused in memory

34
Q

Accuracy of memory: Interference

Aim of McGeoch and Mcdonalds study

A

The aim was to see what the impact of learning a second list of words has on the original list of words

35
Q

Accuracy of memory: Interference

Method of McGeoch and Mcdonalds study

A
  • 12 Participants learnt a list of 10 words (list 1) and they were tested until they recalled the list with 100% accuracy. They were then given another list (list 2)
36
Q

Accuracy of memory: Interference

Results of McGeoch and Mcdonalds study

A
  • It was found that when participants were asked to recall the first list of words (list 1), their memory was affected by list 2
  • The effect was strongest when the words in list 2 had similar meanings to the words in list 1
37
Q

Accuracy of memory: Interference

Conclusion of McGeoch and Mcdonalds study

A

This shows that interference from a second set of information reduces the accuracy of memory. Interference is strongest when the two sets of information are similar.

38
Q

Accuracy of memory: Interference

AO3 of McGeoch and Mcdonalds study

A
  • A weakness is that the research used to support interference theory does not reflect real-life memory activity. We don’t often have to remember lists of words or very similar things. This means the conclusion about the effect of interference on the accuracy of memory is limited because it only applies to very specific conditions.
  • Another weakness with interference is that it may not be an explanation of forgetting. It may be that information is not forgotten but just cannot be accessed as an appropriate cue has not been given. Therefore, interference only appears to cause inaccurate memories.

doesn’t reflect reallife. not forgetting, js cant be accessed

39
Q

What is context?

A

Context is the situation in which something happens. Context can act as a cue to recall information thus enhancing the accuracy of memory

40
Q

Accuracy of memory: Context

Aim of Godden and Baddeley’s study

A

To see if the context of learning and recall has an impact on how many words we remember
Basically if context affects recall

41
Q

Accuracy of memory: Context

Method of Godden and Baddeley’s study

A

Divers had to listen to a list of words and were asked to recall them in the same or different settings: There were four groups -
* Two had the same context and learned on the beach or underwater and then recalled words in the same context.
* Two groups learned and recalled in different contexts, they learned words on the beach and recalled them underwater or vice versa.

42
Q

Accuracy of memory: Context

Results of Godden and Baddeley’s study

A

Recall was highest when context was kept the same. When a person was in the same environment for learning and recall, their memories were more accurate

43
Q

Accuracy of memory: Context

Conclusions of Godden and Baddeley’s study

A

This suggests context of learning acts as a trigger/cue when trying to remember the info, and so improves the accuracy of memory

44
Q

Accuracy of memory: Context

AO3 of of Godden and Baddeley’s study

2 weaknesses

A
  • Another weakness is that the study was unrealistic as participants recalled the words almost immediately. This does not relate to scenarios like exams where the gap between learning and recall is longer. Therefore, research only tells us about short-term recall.
  • One weakness is that word lists were used to test memory, which is not a ‘natural’ way to investigate recall. This is a field experiment, so the environment is ‘natural’ but the task isn’t ‘natural’. This shows that the results can’t be applied to all situations.

unrealistic - had to recall immediately, using words isnt a natural way

45
Q

What are false memories

A

It’s a memory for something that didn’t happen but feels as if it were a true memory

46
Q

Accuracy of memory: False memories

Method of Loftus and Pickrell’s study

A
  • The study included 3 male and 21 female participants
  • Loftus and Pickrell gave participants four stories about childhood events of which three were true and one false (getting lost in a shopping mall was the false one).
  • The story was created with the help of a relative so that it sounded realistic.
  • Participants read each story and later they were interviewed about the stories and were asked to recall as much as they could.
47
Q

Accuracy of memory: False memories

Results of Loftus and Pickrell’s study

A
  • It was found that 68% of the true episodes were remembered. Six out of 24 (25%) of participants recalled the false story fully or partially. The rest had no memory of it.

68% true ep were remembered, 25% recalled false story fully or partially

48
Q

Accuracy of memory: False memories

Conclusions of Loftus and Pickrell’s study

A

Even though only a small number (25%) believe the false memory was true, this shows imagining an event can implant a false memory in a person, reducing the accuracy of memory.

49
Q

Accuracy of memory: False memories

AO3 of Loftus and Pickrell’s study

A
  • The study used 21 females and only 3 males. This means that the study can be criticised for not representing males and therefore the results cannot be generalised to males.
  • Another weakness is that the research raises ethical concerns. Even though participants were debriefed, they may be left with implanted false memories which lingered after the study was finished. Therefore, the study may have caused psychological harm, an ethical issue.

ethical concerns, caused psychological harm. critisized for not rep male

GCSE Psychology AQA (7 decks)

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